Chapter 3

Chapter Three

L uke wasn't entirely sure if he was pleasantly surprised or disappointed when Dorothy came strolling back down the stairs exactly thirty minutes later. The maid trailing behind her, struggling with an oversized hot pink duffel bag, an odd little box in the same shade as the bag, and a giant matching suitcase definitely got his attention, though.

"Dorothy."

At the sound of her name, she stopped dead on the stairs, her head snapping up, eyes wide with a mixture of defiance and fear he found oddly endearing. Her cheeks went pink at the sight of him, and he wondered if she was remembering her time over his knee.

That only seemed fair, since he hadn't been able to stop thinking about what a sight she'd made, kicking and screaming as he'd paddled her naughty little bottom.

"What?"

"You will carry your own bags while you are in my program. And you are only allowed one bag of personal items."

"What?" she repeated, her voice rising to a shriek. "My skin routine doesn't even fit in one bag!"

"Well, you've got about ten minutes to figure it out before I figure it out for you."

"Ugh, fine. Come on, Bonnie."

Snapping her fingers at the harried-looking woman behind her, Dorothy moved to continue her trek down the stairs when Luke cleared his throat.

"Oh my god, what now ?"

"Bonnie, you can pass those bags off to Dorothy. Now," he added when neither woman moved.

"Oh, um." Bonnie's nervous gaze flitted from him to Dorothy. "It's fine. I can carry them the rest of the way."

"Seriously, Uncle Luke, we're almost to the foyer anyway."

With a deliberately exaggerated sigh, he made a show of reaching for the buckle on his belt. "It's going to be a very unpleasant plane ride for you, little girl."

"No, Uncle Luke, I'm sorry!" Turning on the step, she yanked the duffel bag from Bonnie's shoulder, nearly sending them both tumbling down the stairs.

He watched carefully as they made the exchange since he didn't want her to actually harm herself, and after a few awkward minutes, Dorothy struggled her way down the rest of the stairs.

She was panting by the time her feet hit the foyer, and the glare she sent him would have been enough to level a lesser man. But he simply raised a brow and gestured to the floor. "Whatever you can fit in the duffel can come with you."

"That's not enough!" she whined as she dropped the bags at her feet.

"That's the rule. But don't worry, you'll be wearing a uniform while you're at the Ranch, so you don't need many clothes." Watching her flip open her suitcase, he couldn't help but laugh at the contents. "You certainly won't need anything that fancy. Where do you think you're going darlin', the Maldives?"

The red in her cheeks darkened. "I thought maybe there'd be events or something. I just wanted to be prepared," she grumbled, yanking the sequin and glitter-covered dresses from her suitcase.

It took her another half an hour, during which he shot off a text to his pilot letting him know they'd be a little late getting to the airport.

And, during which, her mother and father were conspicuously absent. Didn't they at least want to say goodbye, considering they wouldn't be seeing her for three months, at the minimum? He could understand her not wanting to see them, given how furious she was over the situation, but it didn't sit right with him that his friends were letting their only daughter disappear from their lives without a word.

But Dorothy managed to unpack and repack her duffel bag until it was stuffed full of what she insisted were ‘essential items' without them making an appearance. Pushing to her feet, she even managed to get the heavy bag up onto her shoulder, though her knees wobbled a bit with every step toward the front door.

Deciding that calling attention to her parents' absence would hurt her in ways neither of them would enjoy, he didn't say a word about it as he opened the door and guided her down the steps to his waiting car.

She wasn't sure what she'd expected as far as travel arrangements went. But it certainly wasn't a comfortable ride in a sleek luxury car to a small airport where she boarded an equally comfortable private plane.

If it hadn't been for Uncle Luke forcing her to haul her freaking duffel bag the entire way, she could almost pretend she was leaving for a nice, relaxing vacation.

"So, Dorothy," Uncle Luke said after they were buckled into their respective seats, facing each other. "We've got a couple hours to talk. Do you have any questions about my program?"

Ugh, the last thing she wanted to do was talk about his stupid program. Crossing her arms, she glared at him and did her best to pretend her heart wasn't threatening to beat out of her chest as he met her gaze with a level stare of his own.

All her life, Dorothy had been attracted to a completely different kind of man. The kind of man who would pamper her beyond her wildest dreams in exchange for some quick, boring sex once or twice a week.

But there was something about Lucas Callaway that just… hit different. And it wasn't simply the fact that he was built like a bull and carried himself with the confidence of a man who had worked his ass off for everything he had.

It was the eyes. The pale gray was disconcerting all on its own. But then there was the fact that when he looked at her, for the first time in her life she felt like someone actually saw her. All the way down to her soul.

Disconcerting, to say the least. Possibly downright dangerous.

Because those eyes did see too much, she turned her head to look out the window before answering his question with a shrug. "You already told me everything I need to know. That it's a rehab program and apparently I need to be rehabbed."

"While that's true, there's much more than that to it. Would you like me to tell you how the program works?"

Unease twisted in her gut and she risked a little peek at him out of the corner of her eye. "I dunno."

The big jerk had the nerve to chuckle. "Well, I can wait until we get there little darlin', but it's probably best if I prepare you now so it's not as much of a shock when you see it all in person."

Jerking her shoulder in a deliberate show of nonchalance, she slumped down in her chair as much as the belt around her waist would allow, still refusing to look at him. "Fine. Tell me about your stupid program."

"I started it about fifteen years ago. Over the course of the program, we've had just under three hundred graduates who have gone on to do some pretty amazing things with their lives. Not a single graduate has relapsed into their old ways, and ninety percent of our graduates have completed some form of college degree. I even have a few PhD candidates who have graduated from my program."

That… was kind of cool, actually. It wasn't like she wanted to just be a complete waste of space. Somewhere along the way, she'd simply lost interest in anything that wasn't partying with her friends.

Maybe school would have held her interest if she'd felt passionate about literally anything. Even fashion didn't give her the same thrill it gave her friends, though she enjoyed having pretty clothes.

But none of that excused her parents sending her away the way they had, without even giving her a chance to make things right, a fact she clung to as they soared over the clouds.

"Good for you," she said after a moment, rolling her eyes to hide the fact that she was actually maybe a little bit intrigued by his ‘program' and how it worked.

"Thanks. I'm pretty proud of it, though it is a bit… unconventional."

That got her attention and had her finally looking at him. "What does that mean?"

"If you'd read the contract, you would know exactly what that means," he answered with a raised brow that made her tummy do a funny little flip. "But since you didn't, and we have plenty of time, I'll explain.

"Once you arrive at the Ranch, you'll be assigned an animal to embody. For the next two months at a minimum, you will live, eat, and sleep as though you were that animal. All of your basic needs will be seen to by my ranch hands, and the members of the program who have graduated to the next step. The purpose of this is to strip away all the extra noise of the outside world. Your only purpose for the next month will be to eat, sleep, and obey."

Shock rendered her, for the first time in her memory, completely speechless. "You're out of your fucking mind."

To her surprise, he grinned. "Possibly. You aren't the first person to tell me so. But I like to think the results speak for themselves."

"What does any of that even mean? Living as an animal? Are you going to put me in a fucking barn? Walk me around on a leash?"

A familiar throbbing ache made itself known between her thighs at the idea of being led around on a leash. Oh hell no. There was no fucking way she was turned on by that .

"If you were being put into the puppy program, perhaps. But given the state of things, I think you would do well with the cows."

An old familiar fear twisted in her stomach at his words. "Are you calling me fat?"

"Not at all, darlin'," he assured her in a soothing voice that reminded her of how people often spoke to young children. Or their pets. "Animals are not assigned by anything as superficial as physical looks. It's more about temperament, and the needs of the student."

"I don't have any needs."

"Disagree, darlin'. You have the same needs as anyone else. The need to belong, for instance, which I suspect is why you've fallen in with the crowd you have. Our herd will give you that sense of belonging you've been chasing. Along with the discipline and boundaries you so desperately need."

"I have boundaries," she mumbled.

"Do you? Is that why you're always letting your new friends talk you into trouble?"

"Maybe I'm the one talking them into trouble. Did you ever think of that?"

"I did, actually. And if that's the case, then I'm even more convinced that being with the herd will be good for you. Being a cow on my farm will provide you with plenty of structure and discipline, as well as that sense of family I mentioned earlier."

She wanted to argue that she had a family but did she? Her parents were the ones who had sent her off to be manhandled into submission, and she wasn't super close with her grandparents. As the only child of two only children, Uncle Luke was the closest thing she had to family outside of her own parents.

Tears stung her eyes, but she willed them back, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "What do cows do on your farm?"

"Eat, sleep, and get milked, mostly. At least for the first few weeks."

" Milked ?"

"Yes." His lopsided grin made her tummy feel weird, in a not altogether unpleasant way, which was in and of itself very unpleasant. "There isn't much milk to be had at first, and some of our cows never produce at all, but it isn't the actual milk so much as the action of being milked that's important."

"Oh?" Dorothy shifted in her seat, hoping he wouldn't notice her fidgeting. "Why is that?"

"The first month of the program is all about your mindset. About learning to obey, to submit, even when it's uncomfortable or downright difficult."

"I thought this was about rehabilitation. Sounds to me like it's just about you living out some weird kink fantasy."

Uncle Luke lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug. "I can't deny that's how it started. I've always had a thing for cute little pets, and a friend of mine had a submissive who… we'll just say she struggled with some impulse control issues. But as much as he loved her, he couldn't bring himself to be as strict as she needed. So he sent her to me."

"He just gave you his girlfriend? And you, what, fucked her into being a better person?"

"His fiancé, actually. They've been married now, for nearly two decades, and they couldn't be happier. As to the second part of your question, no. I don't fuck any of my pets. If they need sexual release, it can be granted upon request if the staff believes they've earned it. Something to keep in mind if you're planning on being a brat the whole summer."

She wasn't too worried about his threat. Considering she'd yet to end up in bed with a single man who'd managed to bring her to orgasm, she was more than capable of getting the job done herself if she wanted to. "Well if you're not fucking them, what are you getting out of it?"

"Would you believe the satisfaction of a job well done?" he asked with another one of those one-sided smiles.

"No. Not really."

"Smart girl. That is part of it, though. I genuinely do enjoy helping people. Seeing the graduates of my program excel in life is certainly one of the benefits I receive."

"What are the other benefits?"

"Control. I'm the type of man who enjoys being completely and utterly in control of every single aspect of my surroundings. The Ranch gives me that, in spades."

Looking at him, as cool and collected as could be as he discussed turning people into animals like it was the most natural thing in the world, Dorothy couldn't see him ever not being in control. "What if I don't want to be controlled?"

"Then you'll be punished."

Heat rushed to her face at the memory of being draped over his knee while he spanked her ass like a naughty child. "You mean spanked?"

"I mean punished. That will often take the form of a spanking, and it won't always be with my hand. But there are many ways to punish a naughty little girl, Dorothy. And believe me when I tell you that you won't enjoy all of them as much as you enjoyed your spanking."

Oh, god. She was going to spontaneously combust right there in her seat. "I did not enjoy that!"

"Careful, darlin'. Liars get their mouths punished along with their naughty bottoms. Do you really think I couldn't smell how turned on you were? Couldn't see your pretty panties getting wetter with every single swat?"

Because she was trying to convince herself that she wasn't at all interested in finding out how he would punish her mouth, she turned to glare out the window.

If Uncle Luke was put out by her sulking, he didn't show it. He continued on as if nothing had happened. "When we arrive at the Ranch, you'll be fitted with your cow gear and then taken to your room. The barn is heated and cooled as needed, and I'm told the beds are plenty comfortable."

"Wait." Her head whipped back around to stare at him in shock, yet again. "You were serious about that? About being kept in the barn?"

"Serious as a heart attack, darlin'. You'll be sharing your room with one of our older cows. You'll remember I mentioned the first stage of the program is learning to submit yourself to another's authority. The second stage is learning to help and care for others. Your roommate will be someone in the second stage. Any questions so far?"

"Yeah. When can I go home?"

"After you've completed the program."

"That's a very vague answer."

"Because the answer depends heavily on you. The program is designed to take a minimum of twelve weeks to complete. Four weeks per stage, unless it's decided you need additional time at any given stage, with the final stage being ranch hand. That stage is dedicated to helping you learn independence and responsibility. Along with your responsibilities as a ranch hand, you'll attend classes on things like money management, interviewing techniques, and other basic skills. And we'll be working on helping you figure out what you want to do with your life."

A lump formed in her throat, and she had to blink rapidly so the tears wouldn't fall. "What's the longest it's taken anyone to graduate?"

"Sixteen weeks. That was a particularly stubborn kitten."

"How so?"

An almost wistful smile curved his lips, as if he was enjoying the trip down memory lane. "If there was a rule, she was determined to test it, just to see what the consequence would be. Stubborn and curious, which made her role as a kitten all the more amusing for me. Eventually, she realized there wasn't a single rule on the Ranch she could break without some form of punishment. After that, she sailed through the rest of the program with flying colors."

"What if she hadn't accepted the rules? What if she'd kept pushing and pushing? Would you have sent her away?" An odd ache settled in Dorothy's chest as she asked the question, and she couldn't decide if she wanted him to tell her that yes, if she was enough of a brat he would simply eject her from the program.

Or if she needed the reassurance that no matter what she said or did, he wouldn't give up on her the way everyone else in her life had.

"At some point, I would have sat her down for a very serious conversation about what she really wanted. If she truly felt the program wasn't working and she wanted to leave, I would have let her go."

"But if she wanted to get better?" she whispered.

Uncle Luke shifted slightly, and the intensity in his gaze stole the breath from her very lungs. "Then there would have been nothing she could do to make me send her away. I don't give up on people, Dorothy. No matter how broken they think they are."

His face swam in her vision and she turned her head so he couldn't see the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. What the hell was wrong with her? "Where is your problem student now?"

"She's currently completing her residency at one of the world's top hospitals, though I obviously can't tell you which one. I get an email from her at least once a week thanking me for giving her a second chance at life."

A doctor, huh? Maybe there was something to this program, after all.

Not that she was about to let him know she was thinking that, not even for a second. Because even if his stupid program could change her life, she was still here against her will. It just wasn't fair.

"Any other questions?" Uncle Luke asked gently, for once sounding more like the Uncle Luke she remembered and less like the asshole he'd apparently become.

"How much longer ‘til we get there?"

"About an hour."

"Fine. I'm going to take a nap."

"Probably a good idea. You've got a long afternoon ahead of you."

The seat on his plane lay flat enough for her to stretch out in relative comfort. She didn't actually expect to sleep when she closed her eyes, but a few seconds later she was gently shaken awake by Uncle Luke's large hand.

"Come on, darlin'. Time to get to work."